CVE-2019-5521

VMware ESXi (6.7 before ESXi670-201904101-SG and 6.5 before ESXi650-201903001), Workstation (15.x before 15.0.3 and 14.x before 14.1.6) and Fusion (11.x before 11.0.3 and 10.x before 10.1.6) contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the pixel shader functionality. Successful exploitation of this issue may lead to information disclosure or may allow attackers with normal user privileges to create a denial-of-service condition on the host. Exploitation of this issue require an attacker to have access to a virtual machine with 3D graphics enabled. It is not enabled by default on ESXi and is enabled by default on Workstation and Fusion.

Published: 2019-09-20 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2019-5521 is rated High Risk (65.2/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.63%). Core evidence: EPSS rose +1.21% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-5521

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.42% 1.63% +1.21%
2 2025-03-30 0.88% 0.42% -0.46%
3 2025-03-29 0.88%

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-5521

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.6 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.1 5.8 [email protected]
5.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
8.0 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-5521

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-5521

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware fusion >= 10.0.0, < 10.1.6 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion >= 11.0.0, < 11.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation >= 14.0.0, < 14.1.6 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201701001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201703001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201703002:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201704001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707101:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707102:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707103:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707201:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707202:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707203:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707204:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707205:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707206:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707207:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707208:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707209:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707210:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707211:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707212:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707213:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707214:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707215:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707216:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707217:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707218:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707219:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707220:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201707221:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201710001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201712001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201803001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201806001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201808001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201810001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201810002:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201811001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201811002:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201811301:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.5:650-201901001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201806001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201807001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201808001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810001:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810101:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810102:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810103:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810201:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810202:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810203:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810204:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810205:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810206:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810207:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810208:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810209:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810210:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810211:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810212:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810213:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810214:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810215:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810216:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810217:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810218:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810219:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810220:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810221:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810222:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810223:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810224:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810225:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810226:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810227:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:6.7:670-201810228:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-5521

cvelogic Threat Intelligence